Girls Road Trip

“It will just be myself (American) and my best friend (expat living in Amsterdam). We are planning on renting a car in Reykjavik and driving for one week. We have looked at Ring Road so that we can get an over view of the whole country. Mostly interested in hot springs and pools, northern lights, hiking, volcanoes and eating really good food. We like staying in nice places but can be convinced to "rough" it if it sounds amazing.
- Whitney S.”

Chris McCarty,
a local specialist from Iceland, helped this traveler
put together a customized itinerary.

Have a similar request? Connect with a local specialist to plan your trip.

Summary of the trip planning conversation

Below are some useful excerpts from the trip planning conversation

Chris:Thank you for contacting us to help you with your travel plans to Iceland this summer, we would be happy to connect you with one of our local specialists who can work with you to make sure that you have a great experience in Iceland.

The summer is peak season in Iceland, which means that some areas along the Ring Road like the south coast and golden circle areas can be quite crowded, and hotel availability is very limited at this time. I would recommend that you focus your time in the west and north of the country, where you can still see many great places but with only a fraction of the people.

I'd recommend this route, with a day in Reykjavik to start, and then maybe 2 more exploring the East Fjords region. You can then catch a domestic flight back from Egilssdatir. Most of this route is the same as the ring road, except it skips the south coast.

Whitney S:Thanks so much! We've already booked our flights -- and they fly in and out of Reykjavik so unfortunately we won't be able to change those.

Chris:The only way to get in/out of Iceland is through KEF airport (just outside Reykjavik), so that's fine. You can take a domestic flight from Egilsstadir or Akureyri one way back to Reykjavik if you preferred to spend more time exploring those areas without the longer drive back. It can also be a unique way to see the interior of the country from above.

Whitney S:Oh! I see - that makes a lot of sense and sounds like a good option! Thank you!

Chris:Ok, I'll put together an outline for you, and then can look into accommodation options and prices.

Whitney S:Hi Chris, the itinerary above looks fabulous. We have decided to do the domestic flight and the peninsula route. We'd love to see the whale museum as well as book a whale watching tour on a boat. How do we go about doing that? I'd also love to book hotels and a car ASAP so we don't miss out! Let me know how to get the fee to you and what else you need from me or what else I can expect. Oh, also, do you have any recommendations for awesome sushi anywhere along our route? Is that a thing in Iceland?

Chris:Hi Whitney, I'm glad that you like the suggestion.

I can start putting together hotel and car options for you and there are a few options for whale watching tours from Husavik that I can share as well.

Sushi is a thing, and there are a couple places I can recommend. There is also a boat tour that leaves from the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with a company called VikingSushi where you catch fresh fish and try them as part of it. I can send more details on that as well if you're interested.

Whitney S:Hi Chris, thanks for checking in! We had an AMAZING time in Iceland and were so happy with all of your recommendations and plans. We had a hard time doing everything you recommended, we didn't get to see much of the peninsula due to time constraints. The scenery was awesome and driving was such a great way to see everything. Definitely going back to do the Golden Road and Lake Myvatn again. Totally mind blowing place. Fosshotel Myvatn is awesome.

Traveler Review

We had a difficult time sticking to the timeline as it seemed there was too much stuff for us to do in a day if we wanted to sleep in until about 8 and be at our hotel by 6 or 7 pm or so. Would be nice to have discussed how much we wanted to squeeze in one day. Otherwise, fantastic recommendations. All the restaurants, hotels, hikes, etc. were fantastic. Iceland is amazing.

Chris was prompt in responding to any questions and did a great job of booking all of our hotels and flights and relaying the information to me. The only improvement that could be made here is to add a feature for saving all of your booking numbers, confirmation numbers, etc. for each flight, hotel, car reservation, lagoon reservations in one place. It was kind of confusing trying to go back and forth between our itinerary and my emails. Because I had to book the massages at the lagoon, I screwed up and only booked one, but that was totally my fault! Little things like that got confusing - like what I had to do vs. what Chris did for us.